Daydreams of Moving, Renovations and I heart LH

We pretty much ran out of space in our 1,600 sq ft house the second we found out we were having twins.  Kids have so much STUFF and then multiply all that by two and you can imagine our house.  And especially once we split the boys into two bedrooms we lost the little bit of extra space we had.  So, we've been thinking for a long time that we would probably move sooner rather than later.  For the last several months we have been exploring neighborhoods in the Dallas/Richardson/Plano area that a) aren't too far from downtown (where Jack works), b) built since the '90's,  c) larger than 1,600 sq ft. and d) in our price range.  So, what did we come up with? Not much.  We started our list of "projects" around the house which got so long that now we're thinking it will be about a decade before we're ready to move.  That's the problem (one of many) with home ownership: there's always something else to fix/replace/paint, etc. 

And really, I don't want to move.  I have grown to really love Lake Highlands - there's just so much, I don't know, depth to this neighborhood.  I love our neighbors and going to Lake Highlands football games and the crazy character of these old houses. Everyone is either a young family or has been here since these homes were built in the '50's.  I didn't even know where Lake Highlands was before one of our friends at church introduced us to another couple at our church, the Ellison's, who we bought this house from.  Do I wish that our house was about 50 years younger? Yes.  Absolutely.  But would we move back to McKinney to have that newer house?  No.  Absolutely not.  Not knocking McKinney - I grew up there, my family lives there and I love it but I just don't see us going back there again.  And that's the end of my sales-pitch for Lake Highlands...

For Christmas, my parents gave us new tile in our hall bathroom.  Not literally "gave" us the tile but paid for someone to make our salmon, 4x4 inch tile something a little less nauseating.  And here is the result...

Unfortunately, I didn't take a "before" picture but I'm sure you can all imagine the salmon...puke, salmon.  And, yes, I realize the whole bathroom really just needs to be gutted but that is not in the budget nor do I have the mental stamina to deal with a complete bathroom remodel.  And I can't talk about the new bathroom tile without mentioning our fabulous tile man, Tom Holt.  He was a referral from a friend and was just amazing.  If you're looking for a tile guy, he's the one you need.  Thank you Mom & Dad for the new tile!

In case you're wondering what Jacob & Luke were doing while the tile was being replaced...

Really, we spent the day at Jack's parents house when most of the work was being done but this is what they were doing when I left the room for a few minutes this morning to get dressed.  I did make them put all the clothes back in the drawers but, honestly, it's just a big-ol mess now.  At least they tried.

In other exciting news, Uncle Jeffrey (also known to Luke as "Jef-ee") turned 31 this past weekend so Bunny, Granddaddy and "Jef-ee" came over for Mi Cocina and birthday cake to celebrate.  Uncle Jeffrey is also getting married next weekend and the boys are going to be ring bearers - can't wait to see how that turns out!!  Regardless, we're so excited for Jeffrey and Katie!!

The b-day boy...

Jacob "helping" blow out the candles...

Luke enjoying some cake...

Granddaddy in his Safari Club shirt...of course!

Before the b-day party we headed across the street for some playground fun...

Of course, no posting would be complete without a few bathtub pics...

Is it just me or does Luke look just like me in this picture?  This is very exciting because everyone says he looks JUST LIKE Jack (which he does)!

Yes, Jacob is about to drink that water...ewwwwww

Have a great weekend!